The National Football League is sticking with X, which was formerly known as Twitter, despite a backlash from advertisers against Elon Musk’s website due to hate speech and antisemitism.
According to NFL Media and Business Chief Brian Rolapp, “I think X is in a very difficult business because of the content moderation that they have to deal with,” Julia Boorstin quoted Rolapp. “We are still working with them because it is evident that our fans exist.”
The league refrained from commenting further on the situation.
Since 2013, the NFL and the platform have collaborated to provide fans with access to unique content.
The platform has been embroiled in a number of scandals since Musk assumed control of it last autumn, including ones involving X’s guidelines for removing offensive content.
Amidst the most recent backlash, corporations like Apple and Disney have halted their advertising on the platform.
Musk approved of a post on the platform last week that claimed “Jewish communities” were inciting “hatred against White people,” as previously reported this month. According to Musk, he is not antisemitic.
The left-leaning media watchdog site MediaMatters.org published images of Apple, Bravo, and Oracle advertisements that were displayed alongside antisemitic content on Musk’s platform earlier this month. X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters on Monday in relation to the report, which also happened to be the day Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into potential fraud on the watchdog website.
Over twenty-one House Democrats, meanwhile, claimed on Tuesday that X was making money off of violent content related to Hamas and demanded an explanation from CEO Linda Yaccarino regarding the company’s strategies for reducing offensive content on the platform. On October 7, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas carried out a terrorist attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people and the kidnapping of over 200 hostages.
